PROGRESS 2012: County profiles

Patrick Dove/Standard-Times
A tanker begins to drop fire-retardant material to keep a fast-moving wildfire from advancing across FM 2662 last April.

Patrick Dove/Standard-Times
Thick plumes of smoke and ash from an advancing wildfire fill the sky over southeast Coke County in April 2011. Coke County Judge Roy Blair is hoping for a "fire-free 2012."

COKE COUNTY

2011 highlights: "We survived the fires and the drought situation," Coke County Judge Roy Blair said. "The city of Robert Lee is in the process of building a waterline to Bronte to secure water for the city."

Looking forward: "We're all looking forward to getting more water and better-quality water and looking forward to having a fire-free 2012," Blair said.

CONCHO COUNTY

2011 highlights: "We passed a bond issue for road maintenance to upgrade our county roads," said Concho County Judge Allen Amos. "It's been a bad year for lack of rain. Our agriculture people, of course, are suffering. We haven't seen a lot of action from drilling rigs, but it's starting to pick up."

Looking forward: Hopefully 2012 will be a year of more rain, Amos said. Other than that, "we don't really have anything on the calendar that's earth-shattering," he said.

CROCKETT COUNTY

2011 highlights: "Our biggest thing we had this year was the wildfires," Crockett County Judge Fred Deaton said. "We had three major fires that burned 135,000 acres. There was $5 (million) to $6 million in fence and waterline damage. We did major repairs to two of our flood control dams, and then, of course, redistricting."

Looking forward: Deaton said he hopes for a quiet year in 2012. Aside from the normal goings-on, "we're looking at a large oil and gas boom in the north part of Crockett County, and a lot of roadwork," he said. "We're looking for 300 wells to be drilled, hopefully."

MCCULLOCH COUNTY

2011 highlights: "Things are good in McCulloch County," McCulloch County Judge Danny Neal said. "We continue to see job growth, primarily with our frac sand mining industries, and a few new companies are moving to town. Locally, our economy is doing well, and we've sure enjoyed what rains we've received recently. Some of our ag-based people are beginning to see a little improvement (after) the terribly dry period this past summer."

Looking forward: "We've got elections under way with a couple of contested offices and those should, for the most part, become pretty clear in the primary races," Neal said. "At that time we'll know more about what to expect. Again, we're hoping to see continued improvement in our local property tax base and fairly stable budget for the county."

IRION COUNTY

2011 highlights: "We have three people now living in Irion County who are 100 or over 100 (years old)," said Irion County Judge Tom Aiken. "If you live here, you live a long time. Barnhart finished their remodel on the community center, and they had a centennial celebration after that. The Catholic Church opened up their new facility, and the county library has moved to their new facility. Sherwood Courthouse continues to be remodeled, and First Baptist Church celebrated their 100th anniversary."

Looking forward: "We're going to complete renovations to the museum to make it a first-class facility," Aiken said. "We'll continue to work on our infrastructure, roads primarily. We'll continue to work on the new library. the oil boom will continue to occur, which is creating a lot of business for our county."

KIMBLE COUNTY

2011 highlights: "Kimble County experienced one of the largest wildfires in recent memory in April and May, causing evacuations and burning over 11,000 acres," Kimble County Judge Andrew Murr said in an email. "The county and its residents were thankful for the abundant local, regional, state and federal support received during this time. Residents of the city of Junction, and numerous county facilities, experienced severe water restrictions as the drought reduced surface and groundwater supplies. This also caused massive liquidation of livestock herds and affected crop and pecan production. Luckily, many deer and turkey hunters have continued to supplement feed and protein for local deer populations.

"Kimble County Airport completed a full renovation, resurfacing and re-striping of the runway and taxiways. This $800,000-plus project, performed in part with financial assistance with the Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Division, will ensure that these surfaces last for another eight to 10 years."

Looking forward: "The Kimble County Historical Commission, with support of the county, continues its fundraising efforts to construct a new two-story museum on the courthouse square," Murr said. "Presently, almost $300,000 in donations and pledges have been raised. Kimble County renewed its application for funds to restore its courthouse, originally constructed in 1929, through the Texas Historical Commission's Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. If selected, state grant funds would allow for substantial work to be performed to ensure that this building continues to serve constituents well into the 21st century. Community education continues on important topics such as water management, brush control, prescribed burning, wild fire prevention and drought issues."

MENARD COUNTY

2011 highlights: We completed the Presidio San Saba Restoration Project, which was a little over $1 million," said Menard County Judge Richard Cordes. "We finished rehabilitation for our airport last year, and that was about a $750,000 project. And we got a $180,000 grant called the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program for equipment and vehicles in the sheriff's office. We started a renovation on our golf course, and we'll probably complete it this year. We can't afford to do anything else other than that."

Looking forward: "I think we did a lot last year between droughts and everything else," Cordes said. "There's really not any other pressing plans, just regroup and catch up after all the things we've done after the past 10 years."

MASON COUNTY

2011 highlights: "2011 ended on a much better note than it began for Mason County," Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden said in an email. "We started the year just like all our neighbors, in the midst of one of the worst droughts on record. Without a doubt though, the greatest highlight of the year would have to be the winning of the State Division 1 Class A football championship and having an undefeated 15-0 season.

"The next closest thing to a highlight would be the arrival of several nice rains in late November and December. There were some parts of Mason County that only received 5 to 6 inches of rain in the last 14 months. The drought, coupled with the many grass fires that occurred this year, really created a hardship on all of us. After having to have a yearlong burn ban imposed on the county, it was a treat for the Commissioners Court to not reinstate the ban this month."

Looking forward: "We are optimistic that 2012 will be a year with good rains, fewer worries about our water supplies, better and more responsible actions from our national and state leaders, a positive turnaround for the economy and a spirit of cooperation to make our small area of the world a better place for all," Bearden said.

RUNNELS COUNTY

2011 highlights: "Of course our dealing with the most severe wildfire situation in our history was not a 'highlight,'" Runnels County Judge Barry Hilliard said. "It did, however, bring awareness of how absolutely vital our firefighters and fire departments are to our communities. Another highlight was the addition of Sandra Van Zandt as our veterans' service officer. As an unpaid volunteer she has provided much needed assistance to our county veterans. Our county tax assessor collector, Robin Burgess, was voted by her peers as tax assessor collector of the year. We have actually seen a jump in donations to local charities and organizations even with the difficulties we face with our economy."

Looking forward: "We have one county commissioner who has chosen to retire," Hilliard said. "We're going to update all of our communications for our first responders. That will be a huge thing for those who respond to fires. That's going to be great."

STERLING COUNTY

2011 highlights: "The Public Utility Commission devised a plan to put in approximately $5.7 billion (in) transmission lines," Sterling County Judge Ralph Sides said. "One of those transmission lines is going to cut into Sterling County from east to west, and that's going to improve our ability to move wind energy out of Sterling to other places. The school built new facilities last year and this year. They're finishing up one project right now. There's been a tremendous increase in oil and gas exploration. The city has finished an addition on the golf course down here; it's a nine-hole golf course that's complete. We've got new businesses going in, a new restaurant going in, a new convenience store being built, and they're going to add a motel to that. The economic development corporation is very active."

Looking forward: Sides said he expects new buildings, new transmission lines, continued oil and gas production and more housing projects in 2012. "There's been a lot going on here, for a small place especially," he said.

SCHLEICHER COUNTY

2011 highlights: "We were fortunate enough, as far as fires go, to not have some of the big fires" that plagued other parts of the state, Schleicher County Judge Charlie Bradley said. "Hunting seems to have been fairly successful. It looks like we grew population-wise. Things are looking up."

Looking forward: "Like most communities, we're trying to (offer) some services for the folks here," Bradley said. "We're about to start on a pool project, and we're renovating a park and a baseball field for our kiddos. The new pool will be ready to go in the latter part of May, first part of June, and then the park (will be finished) a little bit later than that."

SUTTON COUNTY

2011 highlights: "We don't have any ongoing projects," Sutton County Judge Carla Garner said. "We lost a large amount of our mineral revenue last year, and this year another large amount. We've had to put a lot of things on hold."

Looking forward: Things in Sutton County "won't change until the next tax year because our tax rate's already been set," Garner said. "I don't look for anything to happen until 2013. We're hopeful, but you just never know. We're just trying to be frugal."